Mick Hartley

The Daily NK provides a unique window into North Korean society, via its string of anonymous informants. A couple of interesting items from this week….

Pyongyang car wash station turns to prostitution for cash:

North Korean law enforcement recently probed a car wash and disinfection station near Pyongyang after allegations surfaced that it was running a prostitution ring, Daily NK has learned. 

“The station wasn’t earning as much money as before so the manager turned to prostitution to keep up the station’s profits,” a South Pyongan Province-based source told Daily NK on Monday. “Word got out about the prostitution ring and rumors spread among locals. Then the police got involved and conducted an investigation.” 

This is the first time that Daily NK has learned of a prostitution ring being operated at a state-run business. Increasingly, North Koreans have opened up massage parlors in their homes or are engaging in covert sex work at saunas and restaurants as economic conditions in the country has worsened.

North Korean car wash and disinfection stations are located at the entrance of roads leading into Pyongyang as part of the city’s efforts to control disease and ensure vehicles entering the city are clean. Cars that pass through the stations are thoroughly examined and those deemed “unsanitary” undergo a mandatory wash and/or disinfection. A single wash and disinfection costs drivers USD 4. 

Frequent visitors to Pyongyang, however, have begun getting their cars cleaned in advance before reaching the stations. Stations have accordingly faced a dip in their profits. What’s more, North Korean truck and van drivers nowadays have less of a need for the stations because they are often accompanied by helpers who keep their vehicles clean.

The station facing a police investigation apparently had trouble meeting its USD 2,000 monthly quota set by the state and turned to prostitution to make up its losses. After recruiting prostitutes, station attendants began targeting drivers traveling into Pyongyang from earlier this year. 

“The station hired pretty women and charged clients USD 20–30 per session,” another Daily NK source in South Pyongan Province said. “Rumors spread about the car wash station running a prostitution ring, but the police didn’t do anything. It was only when locals began complaining that they started an investigation and put a stop to it.”

After the authorities investigated the station in early September, the head of the station was called in front of a local party committee and forced to write a self-criticism about his actions.

And, [Defector Interview] Why are bribes in Pyongyang so expensive?

North Koreans are typically forced to pay bribes to get themselves out of trouble when caught watching foreign movies and dramas. For example, Daily NK sources in Pyongyang reported recently that a female university student was asked to pay USD 5,000 after being caught watching South Korean videos by Group 109, a government task force charged with cracking down on foreign video content. Another North Korean in Samsu County, Ryanggang Province, was arrested by Group 109 in May for watching South Korean dramas and shaken down for RMB 1500 (USD 211). 

Even taking North Korean exchange rates into consideration, however, the cost of the bribe in Pyongyang amounts to about 20 times the cost of the bribe outside of the capital city.

Why is there such a big difference between Pyongyang and the provinces when it comes to bribes? Daily NK interviewed several North Korean defectors who had watched South Korean dramas in North Korea in an attempt to shed some light on this question.

The answers below are summarized from answers provided by the defectors during interviews conducted by Daily NK.

Q: Why do North Koreans pay bribes? 

A: The North Korean system exercises strict control over the viewing of foreign video content, an act that would be considered trivial in many other places. In serious cases, the penalty can be forced labor or even death. If you are sentenced and sent to a forced labor camp, your life is ruined. But if you pay a bribe and are released, it’s like nothing happened. That’s why people choose to bribe officials when they can.

Q: It seems like Pyongyang bribes are excessively high.

A: Pyongyangites are afraid of being exiled from Pyongyang, more so than being sent to a forced labor camp. When you are exiled to the provinces, you’re not just changing locations. Your status in society (songbun) is fundamentally changed and you become a target of discrimination. People exiled out of Pyongyang end up living miserable lives in farm villages deep in the mountains. 

You and your family are punished, meaning that your entire family is exiled. So, Pyongyangites who have been caught watching foreign videos try everything they can to pay off officials, even when those same officials demand enormous bribes. 

Q: What do Pyongyang residents think about living in a farm village in the provinces?

A: Everyone says the laboring masses are the “protagonists of history and production,” but nobody truly believes that. Pyongyangites see provincial people as lowborn commoners who lead impoverished lives. They view the prospect of having to work on farms far away from the city as a terrible fate….